Top 10 Factors to Consider when Choosing a Gaming Computer

PC is a great substitute for a dedicated gaming console for people who can’t afford the latter. Recent surveys indicate that the popularity of PC as a gaming console has been rising recently.

The release of Diablo III has boosted sales of PC games by more than 200 percent last year. This came at a time when overall PC game sales were gradually falling.

Since then a lot of successful games for PC has been released and have been popular among PC gamers.While choosing a gaming PC, there are many factors that should be taken into account. Top ten such factors are presented below.

1. Your budget

The very first thing you should decide is how much money are you willing to shell out for your gaming PC. Once you settle on a maximum amount, it becomes a lot easier to decide which components to select and which can be excluded.

For example, if your budget is less than $1000, you can skip PCs which have dual GPU altogether. Having a clear budget idea will also narrow your options down to a few PC models and a choice will be much easier to make.

2. The kind of games you play

Graphic requirement depend a lot on the type of games to be played. For example, first person shooter games are graphically intensive and require a better graphic card and a better CPU.

A high-end GPU is a necessary requirement for all graphically intensive games, without which the CPU won’t deliver a smooth performance. Similarly, if you’re more in to turn based strategy games, get a better PC with has a good CPU instead of focusing on GPU.

3. The screen

Since good graphics is a very important aspect of any computer game, you should consider getting a good screen and the best graphics card that you budget allows.

You should always remember that spending too much money on graphics card and then not getting a good enough monitor to take advantage of it is not a very bright thing to do.

A good practice is to allocate 30% of your total budget for graphic card. Go for a good screen which has a low latency because frame rate is as important as image quality while playing games.

4. The processor

While CPU is definitely one of the most important components in your gaming PC, you should avoid spending too much on it. A quad-core Intel processor is powerful enough to run all computer games, so don’t try to go beyond that.

Intel’s Core i7-3820 CPU is quite affordable and powerful enough for all gaming needs. If you’re short on cash, you can go for Intel’s i5 processor which is available for less than $200. This processor can also be used in lower cost motherboards.

5. RAM

It’s best to go for at least 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, which should be more than sufficient for most of your gaming needs.

6. Storage

For a very smooth experience, considering buying a PC equipped with a solid state drive. These drives are costlier than regular hard disks, but the benefits offered outweigh the cost. You’ll have faster boot-up, faster load times and low noise.

7. Power

A high end gaming system is bound to use a higher amount of power, so it’s best to use a 500 W power supply at least. Choose an efficient power supply unit based on its rating.

8. Motherboard and Case

There’s not much to choose from if you’re buying a pre-assembled PC apart from checking if the number of USB ports is adequate. Similarly, check if the case has good cooling arrangement so that it doesn’t make too much noise.

If you’re building a PC, just makes sure your CPU and graphics card is compatible with the motherboard.

9. Input

There are a lot of high quality gaming keyboards and mice available in the market and you can choose according to your needs.

While many good wireless keyboards are available, their cost can be prohibitive. It’s better to go for a high quality tethered keyboard and mouse.

10. Audio

For a great 3D audio experience, you just need a decent headphone because almost all PCs come with built-in support for 3D surround multichannel sound.

This guest post was researched and submitted by Jason Phillips. Who is an avid gamer at Sonic Games 365.

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Comments

Emilysays

Thanks for sharing Jason’s post on your blog – he obviously has done his research and it is a good informative article for people who might not know where to start!

My son and i have been talking about getting him a gaming computer since his laptop died.. he is only 12, but the last computer had allot of lag due to minimum spec. I am going to share this with him.. thanks!

I think regarding cost, it’s very important coz gaming PCs are always more expensive than the normal ones coz of the specs. Then one thing you should also consider in a place like Nigeria is how regular the electricity supply in your area is because these PCs drain battery especially if you’re playing a game.

Thanks obasi i really enjoyed this article most especially the area where you talked about storage, ram and processor if one don’t consider this things you will end up slowing down your system maybe because it was the game software was bigger than your system capacity Thanks dude for the awesome article bro